Page Tabs

Search This Blog

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Online Lessons are still thereFrom: Fitpro4@aol.comDearMYRTLE,Where do I find your online courses?

DearFIT,DearMYRTLE's "Beginning Genealogy Lessons" and "Step-by-step Guides" are found online at: www.DearMYRTLE.com/read.htm. I am currently working on revising #9 CENSUS RECORDS to include a comparison of the various websites with scanned images. It simply isn't reasonable to look at census microfilm anymore. Even if you can't locate an ancestor in the various indexes, it is much to click to view the next page than to wait and order a microfilm and hand crank through the entire roll.

C-Line 11x17 Sheet Protectors Listed as ArchivalFrom: Michelle Chubenko michelle@chubenko.usDearMYRTLE,Since I've purchased 11x17 archival sheet protectors at 2003 FGS in Orlando, I was quick to assume they were Avery. However, in digging out the binder with the 11x17 sheets, I found that I purchased C-Line 11x17 sheet protectors. This online office supply page highlights a bunch of 11x17 sheet protectors: http://www.keysan.com/ksumo26.htm including C-Line, and others. It would appear that C-Line are the only one that says archival, but the Esselte-Pendaflex version is made of polypropelene.

DearMICHELLE,Thanks for doing more research. It would be terrible to compile even photocopies of supporting documents only to find the paper side of our genealogical gleanings fall to the wayside. In my experience, pencil notations on legal note pads from the early 1970s are fading and the paper has become brittle.

That brings to mind the necessity of photocopying those older-style "wet" photocopies. The image tends to flake off as the copy ages. Thermal faxes are also a problem over time.

Saturday, May 28, 2005

US Memorial DayDearREADERS,This coming Monday will be celebrated in the US as "MEMORIAL DAY" the day set aside to honor our military servicemen and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice while in the line of duty.

"Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11 <http://www.usmemorialday.org/order11.html> , and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery." http://www.usmemorialday.org/

-- NATIONAL MOMENT OF REMEMBRANCE"To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps." http://www.usmemorialday.org/

-- VFW & SHARING POPPIES"In Flander's Field" describes a battlefield of crosses dotted with red poppies. The poem deeply touched the nation and the world, and, from that point on, poppies became known throughout the world as a memorial flower, a reminder of the lives lost in wartime."

IN FLANDERS FIELDSBy John McCrae, 1915.

In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on rowThat mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies growIn Flanders fields.

"Selling replicas of the original Flanders' poppy originated in some of the allied countries immediately after the Armistice. In 1921, the Franco-American Children's League began the first nationwide sale of poppies to benefit children in the devastated areas of France and Belgium." http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=cmty.leveld&did=128

Whatever your circumstances, wherever you live, please take time to remember your friends and neighbors, and your ancestors whose lives have been affected by war. Let the prayer of every loving mother come forth -- that there will be peace in the land, and that her sons and daughters can be recalled from the battlefield.

That means that I have a lot of work to do to reach more of you in the UnitedKingdom. This is a recent copy/paste of my visitors' country stats. They tell me"unknown" is skewed by AOL.

Country

Visitors

%

UNITEDSTATES

30,564

62.61

UNKNOWN

12,047

24.68

UNITEDKINGDOM

1,423

2.92

MALTA

1,072

2.20

CANADA

1,066

2.18

AUSTRALIA

501

1.03

EUROPEANUNION

324

0.66

NETHERLANDS

247

0.51

GERMANY

238

0.49

CHINA

192

0.39

JAPAN

152

0.31

SPAIN

123

0.25

NORWAY

110

0.23

FRANCE

109

0.22

ITALY

105

0.22

NEWZEALAND

73

0.15

POLAND

73

0.15

SWEDEN

71

0.15

ISRAEL

69

0.14

INDIA

54

0.11

BELGIUM

53

0.11

ROMANIA

42

0.09

KOREA,REPUBLIC OF

38

0.08

URUGUAY

37

0.08

MAURITANIA

33

0.07

NOW, to the 33 of you in Mauritania, I apologize for not knowing more about your country. Tell me more about yourselves. Are you foreign nationals working in Mauritania or has your family lived there for generations? What are the conditions of birth, marriage and death records? Are your genealogies passed down generation by generation in story form or do church and government offices maintain good records?

I used Google to discover more about your country. The first link was the CIA Fact Book, where I found some interesting statistics:

--------------------------------------------------------LOCATION: "Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal and Western Sahara."

BACKGROUND: "Independent from France in 1960, Mauritania annexed the southern third of the former Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) in 1976, but relinquished it after three years of raids by the Polisario guerrilla front seeking independence for the territory. Opposition parties were legalized and a new constitution approved in 1991. Two multiparty presidential elections since then were widely seen as flawed, but October 2001 legislativeand municipal elections were generally free and open."

CLIMATE: desert; constantly hot, dry, dustyTERRAIN: mostly barren, flat plains of the Sahara; some central hillsNATURAL RESOURCES: iron ore, gypsum, copper, phosphate, diamonds, gold, oil, fishIRRIGATED LAND: 490 sq km (1998 est.)POPULATION: 3,086,859 (July 2005 est.) Most of the population concentrated in the cities of Nouakchott and Nouadhibou and along the Senegal River in the southern part of the country.ETHNIC: mixed Maur/black 40%, Moor 30%, black 30%RELIGION: Muslim 100%LANGUAGE: Arabic (official), Pulaar, Soninke, French, Hassaniya, WolofRADIO BROADCAST: AM 1, FM 14, shortwave 1 (2001)TV BROADCAST: 1 (2002)TELEPHONES (Main lines in use): 31,500 (2002)CELL PHONES: 300,000 (2003)ISP: 25 (2003)INTERNET USERS: 10,000 (2002)--------------------------------------------------------I also went to www.worldgenweb.com and discovered that http://www.africagenweb.org/ is the place to visit. There is currently no sponsor for Mauritania, so perhaps one of you could step forward with info. If you don't know web page design, I could help you out.--------------------------------------------------------RootsWeb had more options:-- AFR-MAURITANIA. A mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest in Mauritania. Additional information can be found on The Gateway to Mauritania website. http://www.rootsweb.com/~nafrica/MAURITANIA/GatewayToMauritania.htmlTo subscribe send "subscribe" to afr-mauritania-l-request@rootsweb.com (mail mode) or afr-mauritania-d-request@rootsweb.com (digest mode).

But to all my DearREADERS:Each of you is MORE THAN A STATISTIC to me. I want to know about your challenges in research, as well as your successful unearthing of documents to prove family relationships. I'd like to hear your suggestions for upcoming columns, and learn about neat websites you've visited. I want to understand how you are organizing your compiled genealogy, and appreciate the family traditions you have been preserving. I am curious about your experiences traveling to an ancestral churchyard or village. Your reports of a research trip to an archive or libraryare also enlightening. By sharing this info, perhaps another reader will benefit from your experience. That's what friends are for, right? So in other words: Let's keep talking!

Friday, May 27, 2005

DearMYRTLE,I just read your information about Avery's 11 x 17 sheet protectors #75256. Please remind your readers that although these sheet protectors might be good to use in presentations or other temporary uses, they are VINYL and therefore not archive safe for long term storage. Perhaps some of us genealogists should contact AVERY and ask they to make sheet protectors that would be archive safe for this size document. I only use the vinyl sheet protectors for teaching to pass around visual aids, and remove the items between presentations.

DearMARIAN,Thanks for making this very important point. If we are saving original documents, we certainly want the sheet protectors to be archival safe. Even in a stack of other items, the vinyl can "give off" a chemical that can quicken the aging process. This is especially noticeable with newsprint paper.

From: Mart2542@aol.comRE: SSDI http://www.dearmyrtle.com/05/0517.htmDearMYRTLE,Both of my grandfathers worked for a railroad and both were still working at the time of their death. They are not listed in SSDI. Neither are their widows listed. I have been told that railroad workers are not listed because they were not covered by Social Security -- their retirement pensions were paid through the Railroad Retirement Act. After the deaths of my grandfathers, their wives received small pensions from the Railroad Retirement Board. When the widows died, they are not listed in SSDI. Both sets of grandparents died prior to 1973 during the period when Railroad Retirement was separate from Social Security. In the 1970s it merged, so a railroad worker who died after that merge date should be listed in the SSDI. This brings to mind other workers who are not covered under SS, such as congressmen. Please check on this for me and let your readers know that not all workers contribute to SS, thus their deaths will not be found in the SSDI. Thank you. -- Barbara J. McNamara.

DearBARBARA,THANK-YOU for writing. There are a few problematic statements in your email. Suffice it to say that there are a variety of reasons why one never received a Social Security card, just as there are a variety of reasons why one may never appear on the Social Security Death Index. In no way should US researchers consider the SSDI a post-1969 "national death index" because it simply isn't.

THE LONG ANSWER:For instance, before the IRS began to require SS# on each dependent, widows frequently did not work outside the home, but later received monthly benefits from their deceased husband's account. These women didn't have their own SS#, and for that reason their deaths weren't reported to the SS Administration.--------------------------------------------------------Your reference to the merging of the Railroad Retirement Board with the Social Security Administration implies a disolution of the RR Retirement Board, which simply isn't accurate. See the Railroad Retirement Board website which states "Each year, the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board prepares a "Certificate of Service Months and Compensation" (Form BA-6) for every railroad employee who received creditable railroad compensation in the previous calendar year. The forms will be mailed to employees by the Board during the first half of June. While every effort has been made to compile and keep current the addresses of all active railroad employees, employees for whom compensation was reported in 2004, but who have not received Form BA-6 by July 1, or need a replacement, should contact the nearest Board field office." http://www.rrb.gov/opa/pr/pr0502.htm

--------------------------------------------------------The "Social Security Online" website mentioned in the original DearMYRTLE article also lists answers to your questions such as:-----Q. I WORKED FOR A RAILROAD COMPANY SOME YEARS AGO. ARE THOSE EARNING INCLUDED ON MY SOCIAL SECURITY [INCOME] STATEMENT?A. "When you work in the railroad industry, your earnings are reported to the Railroad Retirement Board, which keeps your records. To qualify for a pension from the Railroad Retirement Board, you must have 10 years (120 service months) of railroad industry work or 5 years of railroad industry work after 1995. If you worked in the railroad industry fewer than 10 years and fewer than 5 years after 1995, we will include your railroad earnings when we count your credits and calculate your Social Security benefits. On your Social Security Statement, we display such railroad earnings from 1973 to the present in the yearly earnings amounts. We do not display railroad earnings before 1973 on your Statement, but we do include them in your benefit estimate calculation.

NOTE: Since 1973, the railroad retirement tax rates have been the same as the Social Security and Medicare tax rates, so we included those earnings when we figured your estimated Social Security and Medicare taxes on the Statement. Before 1973, the tax rates for railroad retirement were different from Social Security. We do not include the earlier taxes in the estimated tax amounts on the Statement. If you have questions about the earlier taxes, please contact the Railroad Retirement Board.

If you have 10 or more years of railroad work or at least 5 years after 1995, we will not use those earnings in determining your Social Security credits or benefit amount. We do not include them with your other earnings on your Statement. You should contact a Railroad Retirement Board office or toll-free telephone number for information about railroad pension benefits based on those earnings." see: http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov-----Q: IS IT TRUE THAT MEMBERS OF CONGRESS DO NOT HAVE TO PAY INTO SOCIAL SECURITY?A: No, it is not true. All members of Congress, the President and Vice President, Federal judges, and most political appointees, were covered under the Social Security program starting in January 1984. They pay into the system just like everyone else. Thus all members of Congress, no matter how long they have been in office, have been paying into the Social Security system since January 1984."http://www.ssa.gov/history/hfaq.html--------------------------------------------------------FOR FURTHER READING---------------------------------------------------------- DearMYRTLE's SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX LISTINGS http://www.dearmyrtle.com/05/0517.htm

-- (A book) THE DIRECTORY OF NORTH AMERICAN RAILROADS, ASSOCIATIONS, SOCIETIES, ARCHIVES, LIBRARIES, MUSEUMS & THEIR COLLECTIONS Compiled by Holly T. Hansen. 1999. Self-published, no ISBN. From the publisher: "From 1805 to the present railroads have grown and expanded across North America. In Colonial times, adventurers, businessmen, immigrants and their commodities depended upon ships to move them across the great waters. Then, as this continent developed, railroads moved the same types of people across great expanses of the North American hinterland. In the process, this great motion caused countless records to be created." 134 pages - $14.95 plus shipping and handling. http://www.myancestorsfound.com/products.htm

"Google Inc.'s plan to digitize the collections of some of the world's biggest libraries is facing stiff criticism from a group of academic publishers who complain that the project may violate copyright laws and hurt book sales.

All around the globe ,newspapers are reporting similar reactions. Online you'll find thousands of articles from countries throughout the world including Great Britain, France, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand. The article also describes another alleged copyright infringement:

"One of Google's most popular features _ a section that compiles news stories posted on thousands of Web sites _ already has triggered claims of copyright infringement. Agence France-Presse, a French news agency, is suing for damages of at least $17.5 million, alleging "Google News" is illegally capitalizing on its copyrighted material." IBID

31 MINUTES AGO out-law.com reports that "Google launched the scheme in December, as part of its effort to make off-line information searchable on-line. The libraries of Harvard, Stanford, the University of Michigan, and the University of Oxford as well as The New York Public Library have signed up to the programme – an expansion of the Google Print project, which initially targeted publishers."http://www.out-law.com/php/page.php?page_id=copyrightquestions1117107187&area=news

MYRT's OPINION: Out-of-copyright materials are fair game. It was the copyright holders' responsibility to re-up the copyright when it expired. But as for the rest, this is a battle between digital libraries and brick & mortar libraries. While I fully appreciate that digital access to obscure material is a boon to our knowledge base, I frankly cannot believe that Google thinks they can get away with it.

ACROSS MY DESK: PAF Companion Charts now in ColorDearREADERS,This just in from Stephanie at Progeny Software. Please direct all inquiries to her at: stephaniep@progenysoftware.com I have always loved PAF Companion, this color option sounds wonderful. I hope they send my copy soon.Happy family tree climbing!Myrt :)DearMYRTLE,6023 26th Street West PMB 352Bradenton, FL 34207Myrt@DearMYRTLE.comhttp://www.DearMYRTLE.com-----Original Message-----From: Progeny Software stephaniep@progenysoftware.com**************************************PAF Companion Now in Colorhttp://www.progenysoftware.com**************************************Dear Genealogist,The popular genealogy charting product, PAF Companion, now prints and publishes family tree charts in color! PAF Companion version 5.2 now offers three color styles for the following family tree charts: - ancestor chart- descendant chart- bow tie chart- hourglass chart- and fan charts

You can choose to color by gender, generation or lineage.

PAF Companion provides professionally-selected default colors or you can choose your own. As an added bonus, a gradient option can be applied to any color chart. The traditional black and white charts are also still available.

Also, PAF Companion version 5.2 has customizable line widths which is a very useful feature when printing larger charts.

With PAF Companion, you can print on any sized paper, even tile pages to create a wall chart! Using the publish to PDF feature, you can share your charts electronically by email or publish them to the web.

With over 150,000 copies sold worldwide, PAF Companion is a very popular family tree charting product used by novice and experienced genealogists alike.Happy color charting,Stephanie Prestonhttp://www.progenysoftware.com

DearREADERS,If you are working on "fleshing out" your ancestors, i.e. putting them into historical perspective, it's imperative that you become familiar with surviving publications of the time period. One popular item in the US circa 1830-1878 was Godey's Lady's Book, claiming a maximum circulation of 150,000. I've been looking at the scanned images of the pages through my membership to Everton.

1. Go to www.everton.com2. Log in as a member3. Click on "Accessible Archives"4. Click on Godey's5. Browse to your heart's content.

"In 1830, in Philadelphia, Louis Antoine Godey (1804-1878) commenced the publication of Godey's Lady's Book which he designed specifically to attract the growing audience of American women.

The magazine was intended to entertain, inform, and educate the women of America. In addition to extensive fashion descriptions and plates, the early issues included biographical sketches, articles about mineralogy, handcrafts, female costume, the dance, equestrienne procedures, health & hygiene, recipes & remedies, etc. Each issue also contained two pages of sheet music, written essentially for the piano forte. Gradually the periodical matured into an important literary magazine and contained extensive book reviews and works by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and many other celebrated 19th century authors who regularly furnished the magazine with essays, poetry and short stories. The Lady's Book was also a vast reservoir of handsome illustrations, which included hand-colored fashion plates, mezzotints, engravings, woodcuts, and ultimately chromolithographs. In 1836 Godey purchased the Boston based American Ladies' Magazine, which he merged with his own."

You COULD join Accessible Archives on your own for $59 per year. Why not pay $11 less to join Everton.com, and receive access to all their databases AND a subscription to GENEALOGICAL HELPER MAGAZINE to boot? ...Just one grandma's opinion I guess.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

It was a dream come true for any genealogist - travel to my immigrants' homeland, to learn about the customs of my ancestors, in addition to finding new names for my pedigree chart! I can now die a happy woman! As a descendant of Johannes Conrad Weiser, and Hans Jost Heydt (see William Knittles's Early 18th Century Palatine Emigration), I had looked forward to ( and saved for) my recent 3 week research trip for years!

Germany certainly lives up to its wonderful reputation! The picturesque Bavarian alpine villages, the mysterious Schwartzwald, great cathedrals, and castle ruins on the Rhein each inspire awe. The people are friendly, and it is quite easy to get off the beaten track and avoid typical tourist traps. The last ten days of the trip I traveled alone, and felt quite comfortable in the southern and western German states I visited.

While our primary purpose was to locate the hometowns of our German ancestors, we were mindful of visiting places of interest in the history of Germany. Accordingly, my companion and I visited the concentration camp at Dachau, although our ancestors had arrived in America long before that reign of terror. The bleakness and deafening silence of that place prompts thought for those who pay their respects by visiting. The barbed-topped concentration camp wall stands in stark contrast to the delightful town of Dachau where we spent our first evening.

From a technical point of view, I was prepared with a printout by locality (of birth & death) of each of my German ancestors. I used PAF (Personal Ancestral File) focus & design reports options. The usual reports only list birth date and parents for an individual. Having this locality-sorted list helped. When I got to a specific town in Germany, I referred to my printouts to remind myself which families I'd be looking for. I also used PAF to print out an annantafel chart, which Germans prefer to the pedigree charts we are more accustomed to using.

Perhaps my biggest misunderstanding of research in Germany was that I assumed I'd be able to look through old cemeteries, as I have done in my Pre-Revolutionary War Pennsylvania Germans. However, grave sites in Germany are not maintained beyond 25 years unless the family continues to pay for the plot. In that case, you'd see one large marker stating “Keller Family.” The church records would detail who all have been buried in that plot. Most cemeteries used the old stones for building projects. Only a few lined the discarded memorials against the perimeter fences. I found only the two memorial plaques placed in the late 1900s by family organizations which mentioned my actual ancestors. Let me mention that you must still visit the cemetery or Freidhof for each church or town. The graves are beautifully decorated with colorful plantings in interesting geometric patterns from the headstone to the foot of the grave. This gives the cemetery an unusual garden-like setting, which adds to the quiet peacefulness you are sure to find there.

Where I DID make excellent progress, particularly on my mother's side, was in using actual kirchenbucks (church books). Luckily each locality I researched was very small. There was only one evangelical church in the area. Since my ancestors came over in the 1709 group to London and then upstate New York, the civil records are not applicable/available. In Aspach, an elder of St. Juliann's church unlocked the door on a Tuesday, retrieved the oldest church books from the fire-proof safe behind the alter and allowed me free access for several hours. The oldest entries were in 1696, but the first few pages recalled information on existing parish members including some details of their lineages. The older book had been burned with the church during a disaster in 1695.

If I could give you any advice, it would be to become familiar with the old German Script and the usual genealogical shorthand marks as outlined in Larry Jensens's tutorials on researching Germany. (See Everton.com ) Be sure to view all microfilmed records from Germany at your local LDS Family History Center BEFORE you go. That way you'll be spending the bulk of your travel expenses in places where the records must be viewed in person. You can take pictures visiting the known towns, but more time will be be spent elsewhere doing original research. My preparation at home greatly speeded my understanding of the priceless volumes I was graciously extended the privilege to study! Actually, I was SHOCKED and AMAZED at the access a foreigner such as I would be given to 300 year old documents.

Personally, I found the German people to be very outgoing and friendly. Not speaking fluent German proved no real hindrance to me. The older people (who have the keys to old churches or know the old surnames in the area) are not able generally to speak English. However, they will practically stand on their heads trying to get a point across. Most younger people take English in school, and can step in to help you when necessary. At the Conrad Weiser Library at Amerika Haus, Stuttgart, the librarians spoke English fluently. At the archives in downtown Herrenberg only one person in the entire four story building could be located to understand my request in English. Much smiling and nodding add to the general feeling of congeniality.

In Afstead, a tiny suburb of Herrenberg, a younger retired person who spoke German and French translated for me the spirited comments of an 85 year old man. This town history buff, and farmer by trade, was explaining the battles of the late 1600s fought by my ancestors and their compatriots in the Blue Dragoons. I was able to understand that the wives and children of the soldiers came with them to war. The wives assisted by cooking. That explained why my JOHANNES CONRAD WEISER was born in Afstead, Herrenburg, and not in Aspach, GrossAspach the ancestral town, a two hour drive northeast. The men could not leave their families at home due to the changing fortunes of war. The women and children would simply have been left defenseless should another invading army approach during the absence of the town's men!

I made a special point of obtaining copies of old woodcuts of the castles on the Rhein River as they looked when my ancestors traversed down the Neckar River and north on the Rhein to Rotterdam in the beginning of their great exodus. All but the Marksburg, and to some degree the Reinfels Castle lay in some degree of ruin due to the many battles with the French over custody of this important shipping lane.

At one point, during a boat trip on the Rhein, I was overcome with emotions. (OK tears, too!) I realized that my ancestors had come from a tiny town of half-timbered homes defeated by centuries of war. At the beginning of the Palatine movement, my Hite and Weiser families passed these huge ruins, once bastions of great wealth and world-renowned power. I could readily see and feel the shock as they realized the powerful families inhabiting these castles could not withstand the continual onslaught. What defense or future did my humble ancestors have if even these great fortresses succumbed to battle? Surely, they were saddened to the bone to leave their fatherland. Yet, what fragile hope they must have held that life would be better in England or elsewhere. They probably didn't dare hope for much, seeing the devastating destruction of such former symbols of glory.

Walking the ancestral land and properties of my ancestors, together with a side trip to Rothenburg on der Tabour (a restored 12th century walled city) gave me new insight to my beloved German progenitors. Funny how the places they ultimately settled in the Lancaster/Reading area of Pennsylvania are VERY like Aspach. The panorama of the rolling farmland is identical. Many of the same plants occur naturally in both regions of the world. The climate is quite similar. I had fallen in love with the Pennsylvania region as I lived in nearby Maryland. This summer in Germany I felt at home.

ANY ADVICE for those planning to go? Study your Berlitz tapes. The language isn't impossible! The money is easy to figure out. Be prepared for “Mayberry RFD” type small towns. The autobahn isn't THAT scary. I found I was easily cruising at 160 KPH. (96 MPH if my math is correct.) Read everything Rick Steves writes about traveling in Germany , France, Switzerland and Austria, because you are sure to spill over into those countries, too. You'd be sad to have missed a famous site if you were too busy searching for your ancestors in the next block.

PACK LIGHT! ...I had a small wheeled suitcase, which I divided into two-day segments of clothing. Every other day I transferred a clean batch of clothes to a folding bag, which GREATLY facilitated the trip to my room often up on the third floor with no elevator. I stayed in hotels twice and found them quite nice, but not close enough to the people to be truly interesting! You can buy all the notebook paper and any supplies you'll need, provided you understand all shops close between 1 and 3pm for lunch.

DO TAKE your camera, and some film. I found film in Germany cheaper, and the prints turned out great. Also bring a hand-held tape recorder. I used this to chronicle my travels while downshifting for sharp curves in the Black Forest, and waiting in line for a car ferry on the Rhein. I was also able to catch the bells chiming at several family churches! What a special thing to hear the actual bell ringing in the hour, as it did for them centuries ago. Obtaining a bell for the church tower was a landmark event in the life of a small town in Germany just as it was for the developing towns in the “wild west” of America.

My expenses included about 60-90DM per day for a room with a shower bath. The most I spent was 210DM in Heidelberg. (I was simply too tired to look any further that night.) A half tank of petrol for my VW Golf four-door hatchback was 39DM. I filled it about once a day, never letting it drop below half for safety's sake. A Mozart concert in Salzburg, Austria cost 28DM. Oddly enough my plane fare direct from Tampa to Dusseldorf, connecting to Munich was $420 US round trip. By comparison, my last two trips to Salt Lake City in spring 1995 were $480 round trip each!

When I traveled alone, I was in town by dinner time, and only ventured to a neighboring zimmer unless I had a new-found family of friends to accompany me. A hearty breakfast of yogurt, hard rolls and cold cuts was included with every night's lodging. I preferred bottled water at local supermarkets for 1DM to spending 4DM on a tiny can of coke! I dined at gasthauses every night for 9-20DM, with the average being 12DM for the best sauerbraten I've ever tasted! My least expensive meals were purchased directly from the baker, with cheese from the market. Fruit was plentiful in June. You will spot only a few McDonalds, where surprisingly beer is on the menu! This was the only place I was able to find ice cubes, and even then, they were seemingly rationed to four or five tiny chunks for a large soda!

For all our cultural differences, you'll find travel to Germany in search of your ancestors is like “going home.” You'll LOVE the clean doorsteps, flower boxes, great Alpine views. The castles are intriguing! I toured many, though my ancestors never DREAMED of owning such elegant places! Go there, enjoy the people, the food! Don't worry! Just do it! You'll come back just as enthusiastic as I have. I believe that we ALL should travel outside the United States. It puts things in global perspective!

DearTRACY,I can't think of any wholesale suppliers of blank pedigree charts. I know Everton has them at retail. "Stevensons" (Stevenson's Genealogy Center) sells these for about 95 cents each on their website and at Deseret Books retail stores. Nowadays, all the genealogy programs will print wall sized charts. Folks either tape the printouts together and take to a blue-printing shop for reproduction, or pay for a chart printing service like that provided by www.whollygenes.com. The chart printing services use data directly from any of the numerous genealogy management software programs.

I personally use the 15 generation charts which I purchased about 23 years ago. Theoretically a person would need about 5 of these, to flesh out the "back side" generations on the chart. I am only up to 3 so far.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Meaning of gravestone graphicsDearREADERS,Print out the full version of McNeel's Symbolism Glossary BEFORE you leave for your next cemetery trip. This will help you understand the meaning behind the choice of graphics on an ancestor's tombstone.

The Memorialist: McNeel’s Symbolism GlossaryEdited by Burton Fletcher 2005-05-24"The following glossary of terms will be helpful to anyone planning the construction of a memorial, as well as for memorialists, genealogists, and historians who may desire to interpret symbols used in cemeteries. The original source is a famous resource to monument builders, McNeel, The Greatest Name in Stonecraft."

-- Abacus: The square upper plate upon the capital of a column, supporting the architecture.-- Abutment: The solid part of a pier or wall that supports an inch and receives its thrust or lateral pressure.-- Acanthus: Heavenly Gardens.-- Acorn: Latent greatness or strength.-- Aere Perennius: More enduring than bronze.-- Alpha and Omega: First and last letters of the Greek alphabet symbolizing the beginning and the end, respectively.-- Altar: The Eucharist; Worship; Presence of God.-- Anchor: Hope; Our Lord, the Anchor of the Soul.

NEAT THINGS I'VE READ LATELY: 24 May 2005DearREADERS,Here are some links, pulled from the headlines, using my "YAHOO" news alert for "family history." If you'd like to learn more, go to the website in question.

--------------------------------------------------------Local News Bloomfield elementary students learn about family rootsLinton Daily Citizen Mon, 23 May 2005 1:40 PM PDTA group of about 80 Bloomfield Elementary School sixth-grade students now know a lot more about their own family roots.http://www.dailycitizen.com/articles/2005/05/23/news/history.txt

--------------------------------------------------------Using DNA to Trace Family History is Focus of Online Genealogy ConferenceBusiness Wire via Yahoo! Finance Mon, 23 May 2005 4:58 AM PDTDNA Testing is Newest Tool for Tracing Ancestry and is the Subject of Upcoming Internet-Based "Family Link Expo 2." Genetic Genealogy Theme is Expected to Attract a Worldwide, At-Home Audience of Professional and Amateur Family History Buffs. http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050523/235302.html?.v=1

--------------------------------------------------------Tradition lives on in La Crosse familyLa Crosse Tribune - May 21 10:00 PMEleven-week-old Abby Seidel will make family history when she is baptized today. The La Crosse girl will go through the ceremony in a 184-year-old baptismal gown that was first worn by her great-great-great-great-grandfather, Albert Johnston, in 1821 — before Wisconsin was even a state.http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2005/05/22/news/z01gown22.txt

--------------------------------------------------------Stories remembered, memories shared: Local writer pens "Front Porch" talesThe News-Courier - May 23 10:18 PMFour-year-old Frank Westmoreland Jr. and friends Dan Hall and Ed Preyer sit in front of the Westmoreland home in Athens.Growing up at his maternal grandparents' place in Giles County, Tenn., Frank G. Westmoreland Jr. looked forward to his father's tales of happenings in Athens, where the elder Frank had grown up and where the younger Frank lived until he was 4. http://www.enewscourier.com/articles/2005/05/24/news/lifestyles/026frankw.txt--------------------------------------------------------Discover Your Family History and Trace Your Ancestry With the New Legacy Family Tree Deluxe 5.0[Press Release] PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance - May 18 9:00 AMAllume Systems, Inc., an IMSI company , today announced the release of Legacy® Family Tree Deluxe 5.0, under the IMSI brand. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050518/sfw072.html?.v=13

DearMYRTLE,In response to your column, I notice that it sometimes is in the "eye of the beholder" whether grandfather was a drunk or just liked to hoist a few. To one person a drink at any time is being a "drinker"; to another having a few socially or after work having a few beers is not out of the ordinary. How do we phrase this and are we to judge when we were not there? Just my thoughts, since one person says he had a drinking problem, the other that he enjoyed a few. Ah, so it goes.

DearELLEN,I would not draw a conclusion, since I wasn't there. I would clearly state the two points of view, quoting wherever possible and let the reader draw his/her own conclusions.

DearMICHELLE,You were the first of several readers who discovered this product. WOW! We do get by with a little help from our friends! Staples.com has them in stock for 1 day delivery 5 for $4.99. I'll include the picture of the product in the web version of this column. Find it at: http://www.DearMYRTLE.com/05/0530.htm

DearREADERS,You may already subscribe to this Godfrey Library News on your own. For you newbies, here is the latest issue. For a venerable old library, the Godfrey sure is hip to the latest things of interest to genealogists. Dictionary.com provides the word for today:

The Library is pleased to announce that it has added Early American Newspapers (Readex) to our Godfrey Scholar Online Portal. These original 17th, 18th and 19th Century newspapers are ideal for genealogists and are only owned by a small group of libraries. Now they are available online, 24/7.

This new resource contains more than 1,200 of the earliest newspapers published in the US and includes titles from 23 States, from New England through the South. The First Series contains 141 newspapers. More newspapers will be added throughout 2005 and the set will be complete in early 2006.

These newspapers are every word searchable. There are also special search features that let you narrow your search to just obituaries or just marriage announcements. Researchers may view only the article or read the entire newspaper.

May 25th – Celebrate Fremont Rider’s 120th BirthdayJoin us on Wednesday, May 25th and celebrate Fremont Rider’s 25th Birthday. Our speaker will be Judy Steiner. Her topic: "How to Google Your Ancestors and Yahoo Your Way to Success". The program begins at 10am. Refreshments will be served. Please RSVP: 860.346.4375

Sign-up OnlineThe Godfrey Library has now added an online sign-up button for instant online registrations and renewals. Now you can sign-up when you want to, 24/7 and receive a Godfrey Scholar library card number and password to begin your online research.

Please give it a try and renew today.

For more information about the Godfrey Memorial Library please contact:www.Godfrey.org

Bradenton is a bit of a travel from ChicagoFrom: Ann Ellen BarrRE: [DearMYRTLE] Medical Practices of the US Revolutionary & Civil War Periods

DearMYRTLE,Sounds great but Bradenton is a bit of a travel from Chicago. I know it's your speech but would you consider excerpting parts and putting them on your DearMYRTLE site for all of us too far away to come?DearANN,A grandma can only do so much in a day. Also, these folks paid for the DearMYRTLE presentation, so it really isn't fair to give it away for free, even partially on my website. You COULD get your local genealogical society to invite me up to speak sometime soon. There are always alternatives.

11 by 17 photocopy protectionFrom: Peg77Kel@aol.comDearMYRTLE,I've been try to locate 3-ring binders and dividers to use with wills, pensions, etc. that are printed on 11 by 17 sheets of paper. So far no luck. Do you know of any company that has them? I asked at Staples & Office Max and they don't have them. Staples checked their catalog and didn't find any that long. A friend used card stock but once you put them in it's harder to remove if needed.

DearPEG,By "printed on 11 by 17 sheets of paper" I am assuming you are talking about photocopies of original documents. Then it's just a matter of folding them once, turning them sideways and placing them in a regular 8.5x11 inch sheet protector.

If you possess oversize original documents, you'll need to encapsulate (NOT laminate) them. See your local county or state archivist. See also:

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Oversized 3-ring dividersFrom: lee0614@juno.comDearMYRTLE,First, I need to tell you how much I enjoyed your presentation at the Jewish Genealogy meeting. You're a great motivator!

Second: Where in the world did you find the Avery sheet protectors with the tabs (#75500)? The only place I could locate them is at the Avery Web site. I guess if I buy enough packets it'll be worth the shipping, but there must be somewhere relatively local where they're for sale.

There's only one place in Sarasota I haven't tried yet: an office supply place on 17th St., but it's rather small. Nevertheless, I'll call them to see what they have. And I haven't checked out Bradenton yet. So where's your secret store?

DearLENORE,I purchased the oversized Avery sheet protectors with Tabs (#75500) at the STAPLES store on US 41 in Bradenton. I think they are simply wonderful for separating generations in a family history 3-ring binder. I checked online, and you may order these online at www.staples.com . Just type in "Avery 75500" without the quote marks as the search criteria.

READERS' FEEDBACK 22 May 2005-- RE: 1895 Exam-- RE: Social Security Death Index-- RE: Social Security Death Index-- RE: What's in a Name?-- RE: What's in a Name?-- Myrt's warning to BACKUP

--------------------------------------------------------RE: 1895 EXAMhttp://www.dearmyrtle.com/05/0511.htmFrom: pd2tmf@wowway.comDearMYRTLE,According to Snopes this is not true, although I thought it was, too. I'm not sending this to be mean, just to be helpful. http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.htm

--------------------------------------------------------RE: SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEXhttp://www.dearmyrtle.com/05/0517.htmFrom: Sally Rolls PaviaDearMYRTLE,As usual, your info is a great help. When my husband applied for his card, [he] gave his step-mother's name instead of his real mother's name. She'd died when he was only 2-years old.

--------------------------------------------------------RE: SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEXhttp://www.dearmyrtle.com/05/0517.htmFrom: Jazmyne@aol.comDearMYRTLE,Morse SSDI search website http://www.stevemorse.org/ssdi/ssdi.html -- Thought you might find this interesting to pass on to your readers. His site allows more detailed searches of a lot of databases. If any of you have done extensive lookups in the social security death index (SSDI), you'll know that there are several SSDI websites and each one has a different set of limitations. Several years ago Steve Morse made it easy for us by developing a single search form that could search any SSDI site that you specify. That way you could go back and forth between the different sites without having to reenter you data on a new form.

Steve has now come up with a single search method that combines all the desirable features of the various sites. He did so by using the rootsweb site as his starting point and then wrote code to get rid of the following limitations in rootsweb: Rootsweb requires at least three characters for partial names Rootsweb does not allow you to search on a range of years Rootsweb does not allow you to search on age Rootsweb does not allow you to search on a foreign last residence Rootsweb does not allow you to specify day of month for death. He calls his search method "RootsWeb Plus" and it is now the default choice on his SSDI search form. If you'd like to try it, go to Steve's site at http://www.stevemorse.org and select "Social Security Death Records" in his "Births and Deaths" section. Please direct any questions to Steve directly. His address is at the top of the site. steve@StephenMorse.org.

--------------------------------------------------------RE: WHAT'S IN A NAME?http://www.dearmyrtle.com/05/0514.htmFrom: ehgaulin@att.netDearMYRTLE,As we get ready to head north for a couple month I took a few minutes to read your piece on names and wanted to tell you that I enjoyed it completely. Apparently no one in my family that I've identified so far ever had nicknames that stuck. As I thought more about it I concluded that none of my close friends from high school, college, the Army or even my neighbors did either. Is that strange?

Yet my wife's family is full of them and the first that I recall hearing about was a carriage maker (actually I think he was a blacksmith) in northen PA who was called "Old Sarge" all his life for his Civil War service. His grandfather was referred to on occassion as "the Hessian" because he was born in Darmstadt and deserted his Hessian regiment in Philadelphia the same year it arrived. The son of the "blacksmith" removed to Buffalo, NY where he designed and built automobiles from about 1898 to 1904. He was occassionally called "Wheels." Finally, my father-in-law was a powerboat racer for much of his early life and he could repair almost any engine. He was sometimes called "Gearhead," although I'm not sure that was a term of endearment. Now that I think about it he was also called "Bullet" which was the name of one of his racing boats.

--------------------------------------------------------RE: WHAT'S IN A NAME?http://www.dearmyrtle.com/05/0514.htmFrom: Janet Wheadon CrinerDearMYRTLE,I loved your article on nick-names! My husband, from Newton County Arkansas, then Tulsa, OK is known only as Skip, but was given the name Donny Wayne Criner. No one knows how the nick name started or why. He really IS a Skip, not a Donny. I just recently found out the REAL spelling of his name is supposed to be Donnie! After 32 years married, for Pete's sake! His entire database is filled with nicknames and when I first submitted them to the LDS library in SLC they wanted the nicknames taken out, but I didn't because then we surely won't know who is whom! They have since changed their minds and there is a nickname line in their PAF program for nicknames or known-as. Thank Heavens! Thanks for your interesting columns. I love them and learn alot. I am now working on Skip's line for him, as he doesn't do computers. --------------------------------------------------------MYRT's WARNING TO BACK UP

DearREADERS,Thanks for the feedback. Its great to be back in Florida again. When I got home, my 12 month old (out of warranty) E-machine's hard drive failed (3rd one they put in it.) Fortunately I had installed a 2nd drive just for backups, and was able to get things going again with a minimum of hassle. PLEASE BACK UP EVERYTHING important. You never know...

"Thanks to lobbying by the Australasian Federation of Family HistoryOrganisations (AFFHO) the next Australian census is to be saved in theNational Archives of Australia at a cost of $19 million approvedrecently. This is the largest government funding allocation togenealogical studies in Australia's history.

There will be a 99-year privacy embargo. AFFHO is Australia's peakgenealogical organisation and represents an estimated 300,000genealogical record users across the country. An intense 20-yearpolitical campaign by AFFHO prior to the 2001 survey, resulted in acomplete reversal on a long-standing federal government policy todestroy census returns and publish numerical statistics only. Before2001, no census survey of national coverage in Australia has survivedsince 1828."

27th Aero Squadron, USA, at Royal Flying CorpsFrom: Debbie NeeceDearMYRTLE,My mother had two panoramic pictures in the attic of groups of military men for as long as I can remember and I feel sure that somewhere in the pictures of 163 faces is a grandfather or Great Uncle. The words on the first picture are:

Can you give me some direction? I appreciate any assistance you can be.

DearDEBBIE,When Yahooing to find an answer to find out more about the "27th Aero Squadron" I found many links, including:

MAKE A POSTING ON THIS WEBSITE'S GUESTBOOK:-- 27th pursuit 's Home Page"An on-line research project and listening post. 2nd Lt. Frank Luke Jr. poses in front of his No. 26 Spad XIII in this photo, taken on Sept. ... some to the general body of knowledge on the 27th ... pilots of the 27th Pursuit Squadron, remembered to history (when ... at all) as "Eagle Squadron" or more commonly "The Balloon ..."http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/7133/

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE UNIT HERE:-- "The 27th Fighter Squadron is the oldest fighter squadron in the U.S. Air Force. As one of three fighter squadrons of the 1st Fighter Wing, the 27th is tasked to provide air superiority for United States or allied forces by engaging and destroying enemy forces, equipment, defenses or installations for global deployment. The unit is equipped with the F-15 Eagle, an advanced air-superiority fighter."http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usaf/27fs.htm